Flight III Destroyer

In an historic milestone for the DDG 51 program, the keel of the first Flight III destroyer, the future USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG-125), was ceremoniously laid and authenticated at Huntington Ingalls Shipyard, November 7.

Ingalls Shipbuilding welder James Ellis welds Ship Sponsors Ruby Lucas and Catherine B. Reynolds’ initials into a steel plate during a keel authentication ceremony for the future USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG-125) at Huntington Ingalls Industries Pascagoula shipyard November 7, 2019. DDG-125 is the first ship to be named for Jack H. Lucas. During World War II, Lucas, then a private first class in the Marine Corps, received the Medal of Honor at age 17 for heroism above and beyond the call of duty during the Battle of Iwo Jima (Photo by Samantha Crane)

Ruby Lucas and Catherine B. Reynolds, ship sponsors, authenticated the keel by etching their initials into the keel plate. Although the official start of fabrication began in May 2018, authenticating the ship’s keel symbolically recognizes the joining of modular components and represents the ceremonial beginning of the ship.

«This destroyer was named after an American hero, Medal of Honor recipient Jack Lucas, and I am humbled and honored to be here today as we authenticate the keel on his namesake ship», said Capt. Seth Miller, DDG 51 class program manager, Program Executive Office (PEO) Ships. «The Flight III ships will bring increased lethality and warfighting capacity to our warfighters, and today’s milestone is the first of many to come as we work to deliver this highly capable ship to the Fleet», he added.

USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG-125) will be the first Arleigh Burke class destroyer built in the Flight III configuration with improved capability and capacity to perform Anti-Air Warfare and Ballistic Missile Defense in support of the Integrated Air and Missile Defense mission.

The Flight III design contains modifications from the earlier DDG-51 class, to enable the SPY-6 radar, in association with Aegis Baseline 10, which includes larger electronically scanned arrays and the power generation and cooling equipment required to operate the powerful new radar.

As one of the Defense Department’s largest acquisition organizations, PEO Ships is responsible for executing the development and procurement of all destroyers, amphibious ships, special mission and support ships, boats and craft.